The President took part in the New Year Wishing Tree charity event and helped a wish come true for a Tula Region boy Alex, whose dream was to hug a panda. The child came to the Russian capital with his parents and, supervised by the Zoo staff, met the animal in a special area for training. Alex was able to create a unique T-shirt: he and Ru Yi the Panda applied colourful prints to the T-shirt.
Vladimir Putin called Alex and his parents during the tour and asked if the boy enjoyed meeting Ru Yi and congratulated him on his New Year wish coming true.